


You can't spell Ravenclaw without R

by AbschaumNo1



Series: Ravenclaw R [1]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, M/M, but know that I am sorry for it, mostly mentioned I think but better to be safe, please ignore the Harry Potter specific part of the timeline, whichever happens, will add more as they appear/sneak up on me while writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-08
Updated: 2013-11-28
Packaged: 2017-12-31 22:00:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1036851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire meets Enjolras, Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Joly and Bossuet on the train to Hogwarts, it all kind of develops from there</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Year 1

**Author's Note:**

> A few weeks ago [McKenna](http://oopsipontmercyed.tumblr.com) and I talked about Les Amis in Hogwarts (specifically Grantaire in Hogwarts) and after throwing around headcanons I decided to write this. 
> 
> I hope you'll like it

The day on which Grantaire received his Hogwarts letter was the first day of his life that his father didn’t merely talk about him as if he was a waste of space. Maybe it still wasn’t love, but it was something other than the harsh disapproval he was used to, but still it also seemed to add to the weight of expectations that rested on his shoulders. Because expectations were everything his father had for him. Now that it was proved that he was at least a wizard it was expected of him to make it into Slytherin, like all of his ancestors, and be a good student. Instead of a complete waste of space Grantaire had become slightly less of a waste of space.

His nanny was sent do Diagon Alley with him. His father, as usual, couldn’t be bothered with his son, while his mother, a shy, timid creature, would only do what her husband told her and was expected to stay at home. Grantaire actually liked his nanny, she was the only person in the mansion who did not treat him like he was a total failure, and considering the many rules his father had made she did a fairly good job in raising him decently. Grantaire and his nanny had a lot of secrets, things his father could never find out about, like the kit of drawing supplies he wasn’t supposed to have, because drawing, as all art, was unbecoming for a member of his family.

So Grantaire and his nanny went to Diagon Alley together to get the things he would need for his first year in school, and if some things he wasn’t intended to have made it into their bags despite his nanny’s meagre pay they didn’t speak about it, it was better not to. No one would see it; his father surely wouldn’t check that he had everything.

All in all it was a fun day for Grantaire, full of exciting new things to see, and for once away from the gloomy atmosphere of the mansion.

It was also his nanny who brought him to King’s Cross train station to get on the train to Hogwarts. His parents had said their goodbyes the evening before after dinner. His father had told him in a gruff tone of voice that he should not be useless at school; his mother had smiled softly and said, “I wish you all the best.”

The train ride was uneventful, Grantaire had found a place in a compartment with several other first years, a cheerful, curly-haired Irish boy, named Courfeyrac and a couple of his friends, as well as other people he seemed to have picked up along the way: Combeferre, who had tucked himself into one corner with a book; Enjolras who appeared to be fierce and slightly intimidating, but was actually rather nice; and finally Joly and Bossuet, best friends, who seemed inseparable, Bossuet was probably the unluckiest person any of them had ever met, but he laughed almost as much as Joly did. Grantaire kept to his corner and listened to the others talking. It wasn’t for lack of trying on their side, but Grantaire had spent his life mostly being on his own, it was a new experience for him to have so many people to talk to, and quite frankly it intimidated him a bit. But it was hard not to warm up to ever laughing Joly, and Courfeyrac and his open smile and affectionate gestures, and soon he found himself more at ease, laughing along and telling stories of his own, even though they were slightly embellished due to his lack of friends and contact.

Before they even knew it they had reached Hogwarts and had to get off the train. A large, bulky man was waiting for the first-years and they all followed him excitedly as he led them down towards a cave that held a number of boats. Grantaire clambered into one, together with Bossuet and Joly, and then they already set off. The boats, steered by magic, drifted out onto a dark lake, on the other side of which a castle loomed, its many windows giving out a warm light. A lot of the new students looked at it with open mouths as they approached it. Their first view of Hogwarts was an impressive sight.

They reached the shore and got off the boats, and then they were lead up towards the castle. At the big entrance doors waited a stern woman for them, dressed in green robes, her grey hair in a tight bun at the back of her head. She welcomed them and brought them to a small room where they waited for her to get them for the Sorting ceremony.

Grantaire could feel nervousness pooling in his stomach when they entered the Great Hall for the first time. He shuffled in along with the others, right behind Combeferre and next to Courfeyrac, and his first reaction was to gape at his surroundings, there were five tables, one for the teachers and another four for the different houses, he looked up at the ceiling and couldn't stop his mouth from falling open; the view of the exact same sky that he had seen outside was breath taking.

"It's been enchanted," he heard Courfeyrac babble next to him. "It always shows the sky as it is outside."

Grantaire could only let out a "Wow."

"Yeah, it's really interesting, isn't it? Combeferre told me about it." His wide grin, that showed the gap between his front teeth made Grantaire smile back tentatively.

The voices that had been buzzing in the hall died down when the Sorting Hat began to sing, and Grantaire found himself listening in astonishment. It was probably the single most interesting song he had ever heard in his life. He could hear someone near him sigh slightly dreamily, and whisper "That's so beautiful."

There was applause when the hat ended and then the sorting itself began. Grantaire listened with excitement as Bossuet was sorted into Hufflepuff and Combeferre into Ravenclaw, Courfeyrac became another Hufflepuff, and Enjolras a Slytherin, and then it was time for Grantaire to move forward. He was still nervous, hoping not to disappoint his father, but at the same time he knew deep in his heart that whatever he did there was no doubt that it would be a disappointment to his father.

Cautiously he sat down on the chair and the hat was placed on his head. There was a moment of silence before he heard a voice in his ear.

"You got a lot of potential boy, a lot of talent; I think I know exactly where to put you." And then the hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!"

The next thing Grantaire heard was thundering applause from the Ravenclaw table.

What began was probably the best time Grantaire had ever had in his life. The Ravenclaws welcomed their new fellow students with open arms, and their group of friends kept meeting and growing.

First of all there was Jehan, another Ravenclaw, who sometimes seemed like he was in a whole different world. He was prone to dreaming, but had a sharp mind and generally admired the world around him. Jehan tended to dress himself without thinking and sometimes the combinations he wore were rather weird. When Professor Binns had told them about some war or other (Grantaire had to admit that he had no idea what the ghost was talking about most of the time; he droned on and on about history and it was very hard to actually pay attention to his lessons) Jehan had begun to cry, an action that had managed to throw Professor Binns off and had earned him mocking from some of the other students, until a Gryffindor boy none of them really knew cut in and told them to shut up.

Which was how they met Bahorel; Bahorel was generally loud and always the first in a fight. He preferred fist fighting over anything else and was known for a kind of lazy attitude. He worked, but he didn’t work hard, instead he preferred to lie back and get through with working as few hours as possible. After that incident during History of Magic he began to hang around them, a persistent but welcome addition to their little group.

It was Enjolras who introduced them to Feuilly. He was a fellow Slytherin, one of the very few Slytherins who were muggle-born. None of them had ever met someone who worked harder than him, for he had one ambition: To create a life that was better than the one he had known. Feuilly was an orphan, whose parents had died when he was very young. Enjolras had been fascinated by this kid, who seemed so single minded and hadn’t taken two pence from any students who felt that his blood status made him unsuitable. One of the seventh years had put the other student in his place before it got too bad, but Feuilly had had no problems standing his own ground, and that had obviously made an impression on Enjolras.

They were a colourful group all together, and they grew closer over the year, ever really out of each other’s hair. It was probably due to this group of people that Grantaire felt at home in Hogwarts. His father’s reaction to the sorting had been less than unfavourable. The tone of the letter he had sent Grantaire had been ice-cold and there had been no doubt that he had only proved how much of a disappointment he truly was.

Grantaire was greeted with the same icy manner when he returned home over Christmas and it took him less than a day to wish that he was back at Hogwarts, with Feuilly and Bossuet, the only ones of them who had stayed there. The only glimmer of light during his stay at home were the Christmas presents he had gotten from his friends, and that were so much more than he had dared to hope for. It was a good feeling to know that they cared enough about him to send him presents, much better than the reprieve he got from his father for being sorted into the wrong house and proving that he was as useless as his father had always said he was.

Getting back to Hogwarts felt like being set free; as soon as he had found his friends on the train back to school he could relax and laugh with them and they looked forward to getting back, even if it meant school work and endless lessons; after all, being in Hogwarts also meant being with their friends.

They were settled back in soon enough, the routine of lessons and homework usual enough, and before Grantaire knew his home and family were at the far back of his mind, his foremost thoughts focussed on the happy things in his life.

The rest of term seemed to slip by in a hurry, before they even realised it, it was spring and with it came Easter, and soon enough after that it was already time for their exams. They learned together, and Grantaire was fairly sure that he had done well enough.

Exam stress faded into the laziness of their last days and suddenly enough they had to pack and spent their train ride back to London joking around before they had to say goodbye to each other and left with promises to stay in contact, some being happier to come home than others.


	2. Year 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't supposed to take this long but well, there were essays to write and then when I had finished it the internet in our dorm went down...  
> Anyways, I present the second chapter of this fic in the hope that you will like it and that I will be faster with the next one =)

The summer passed uneventfully for Grantaire; his father, as usual, took no notice of him, and he spent most of his days roaming around the garden or in his room. He didn't even have his nanny for company anymore, since she had been sent away after Grantaire had left. They didn't need her anymore. Grantaire filled his days with reading and doodling on sheets of paper that he smuggled in and out between the pages of his books. Some of his letters to his friends had small doodles in the margins, and most of them wrote back telling him that they liked them. Courfeyrac and Jehan especially seemed enthusiastic about them, Jehan with the dreamy quality of someone who saw the wonders in the world, Courfeyrac with his usual enthusiasm about anything that his friends accomplished.

The middle of July brought an owl from Hogwarts with his book list for the second year and the question who would accompany him on his trip to buy them. In the end it was decided that Grantaire's mother would have to do it. She nodded silently when her husband announced it over dinner and a day later they set out for Diagon Alley together. Grantaire had no illusions that it would be as pleasant a trip as the last time; his mother never went against his father's wishes and there had been no way to contact any of his friends to ask them when they would go to buy their books.

But it seemed that Grantaire should have had nothing to worry about. His mother, while obeying her husband, was far more pleasant than his father and while the two of them were not exactly close she loved Grantaire dearly. They met Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Enjolras at Flourish & Blott's and his three friends charmed their way into his mother's heart and decided to accompany them on their shopping trip. Courfeyrac chatted happily about how he had spent his days at home and how he had to coax Combeferre and Enjolras either out of their rooms or the library.

“They spent most of their time reading, can you believe it?” he asked Grantaire in mock shock. “And all of that while the weather was perfectly fine!”

“Stop acting like you didn't sit with us and read just as much,” Combeferre said finally. “Never let him tell that he doesn't like reading, Grantaire, he's a secret bookworm, isn't he, Enjolras?”

Enjolras nodded, grinning. “Don't let him fool you, he's just as bad as we are.”

And while Combeferre launched into a story about an interesting book he had found in the library of Enjolras' parents Grantaire found that it was the first time during his holidays that he felt truly content.

It wasn't long until they all met again on the train back to Hogwarts, chatting excitedly about what they had done over the summer. Joly and Bossuet told them about their holiday with Joly's family, they had gone to the Bretagne, and Bossuet had somehow managed to get a sunburn despite it being almost impossible with the mostly cloudy days, while Joly had thought at least once that he had caught the flu. It surprised none of them that Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Enjolras had spent most of their summer together, roaming the mansion of Enjolras' parents, or just sitting together, reading. Jehan had been to Scotland with his parents and told them about the beauty of the landscape, while Bahorel apparently had spent most of his summer simply being lazy. Feuilly had went back to the orphanage and had spent an uneventful summer there.

His second year at Hogwarts found Grantaire comfortable again, happy to be back at the place he liked to call home and glad to be with his friends again. He threw himself back into school life with a level of enthusiasm that might have surprised the others if it weren't for their joy at seeing Grantaire in good spirits, and an inkling of a thought in some of them that maybe not everything in Grantaire's family was as good as they might expect.

Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Combeferre didn't have to talk about it; they knew each other long enough to know that they were thinking the same. After all they had met Grantaire with his mother and they had seen how he acted around her. Even though it was possible that his father simply had had no time because of work, as Courfeyrac had said, it was unlikely that he was not with them because of that. After all, Enjolras had pointed out, the Grantaires were known to be a wealthy family, pure blood and stuck in what many other wizard families saw as old-fashioned ways. The boy they had all met and called their friend just didn't fit into that. And Combeferre recalled his own father's surprise at hearing that Grantaire had been sorted into Ravenclaw. “His father won't be happy about it,” he had said, “That man is ridiculously proud of every ancestor of his having been a Slytherin. The boy is not to envy.” The three of them were lucky, Combeferre mused, that their families were so accepting, or they might come into in a similar situation.

Despite the way he threw himself into school work, Grantaire couldn't help but feel a bit restless after a while. It was because of that that he signed up for the try-outs for the quidditch team. He had liked the flying lessons in their first year well enough, and somehow someone seemed to have convinced his father that it was okay to give his son a broom for his birthday. And so Grantaire found himself on the quidditch field a few weeks after the year had started, trying out to be a chaser. With nothing better to do than to draw and to read he had been flying quite a lot during his summer, and it proved that he was quite capable. None of his friends seemed too surprised when he was told that he was part of the team, but they couldn't hold back their pride in him. The hugs they all decided spontaneously to bestow on him made Grantaire grin even wider than the actual news that he had made it onto the team.

Grantaire proved that the captain had made the right decision by choosing him when he somehow shot most of the goals of Ravenclaw's team in their first game against Slytherin. It appeared that he had a talent for the game as much as he seemed to excel in most of his lessons, and after the game the Ravenclaws, who seemed to be ridiculously proud of him for his performance, couldn't be stopped from celebrating, and more than once he found himself face to face with excited team mates who told him how great they thought this or that move of his had been, shooting down every attempt of his to tell them that he hadn't been that good, or that it was only his first game and that they couldn't know that he would be that good in the next one.

Still, the pride of the other Ravenclaws and his friends made him happy, and gave him the feeling that maybe he wasn't completely wrong where he was. But his doubts still were there, a tight knot at the bottom of his stomach, the thought that he didn't belong here still ever present at the back of his mind, and becoming far too loud when he didn't keep himself occupied.

The months passed slowly but steady and soon enough it was Christmas again and most of them went home to spend the holidays with their families. Bossuet had received an invitation to celebrate Christmas with Joly's family this year and so Bahorel decided to stay around to keep Feuilly company.

“My family will survive if I stay at home over the holidays. Besides it's really easier not to have to pack my stuff and everything,” he had said with a shrug and Grantaire would swear that he could see Feuilly rolling his eyes, but there was fondness in it, and maybe happiness that he wouldn't be alone. 

Grantaire didn't know what he expected from his holidays, it wasn't like his father would change his mind and suddenly show him how much he loved him, just because they hadn't seen each other for a few months. Nothing would have had changed and it would probably end like his last Christmas at home, with him wishing to have stayed at Hogwarts, with his friends and all the freedom he could wish for; exploring the castle and hanging around with Feuilly and Bahorel, enjoying the Christmas meal in the Great Hall. But still he went home and spent miserable days with his family.

His father's disappointment was still bad and Grantaire could sense that he would probably have to deal with it for very a long time. The realisation made the holidays no better than they already were, and he found once again that he couldn't wait to get back to school. 

He had started to draw more often while still at Hogwarts, due to his still present restlessness and boredom, and it had been met with a lot of excitement from Jehan, who loved to watch him, and was always eager to give feedback if asked. Even though he had quidditch practice now he still felt that he needed something to fill the still remaining hours of his days, and the times when he was too restless to sit down to read and had already finished his homework. 

It was hard to keep it up at home, especially since he couldn't go outside to do it in the garden, away from the house and his father, but somehow it worked, hidden between pages of classwork that he didn't necessarily have to do but had taken along anyways. Even in the unlikely case that his father would enter his room, it probably wouldn't happen when Grantaire wasn't there, and he wouldn't touch the papers on his desk.

Christmas morning brought a small pile of presents to the foot of his bed, and he began to unpack them delightedly. Jehan had sent him a book, a work of a muggle author that he liked and apparently wanted to share; there was a bunch of sweets from Bahorel, and an origami creation that Feuilly had made for him and that he decided would get a place of honour on his bedside table in Hogwarts; Combeferre had also sent him a book, this one about something he dimly remembered them talking about a few weeks before their Christmas break; Enjolras and Courfeyrac had bought him a nice sketchook and some pencils, and had written a card that almost read like talking to them (“Enjolras didn't know what to get you so he pitched in with me and we bought you this.” “Don't trust him that's not how it happened. We talked about it and decided it was a good idea so we got it for you.” “Anyways, Merry Christmas from both of us!” and somewhere in a corner almost too tiny to read it said “That's totally how it happened.” in Courfeyrac's weird scrawl); Joly and Bossuet had gotten him a scarf and a knit hat in deep blue, “to warm you and prevent you from catching a cold or any thing worse”. While he was unpacking he smiled and he took a moment to feel truly happy for one of the few times since he had gotten home, before he got up and hid Jehan's book and the present from Enjolras and Courfeyrac before anyone had the chance to see them. It would only get him in trouble.

January saw their return to Hogwarts and Grantaire relieved to see his friends again. Jehan greeted him with an enthusiastic hug.

“I love that drawing you sent me for Christmas!” he said, a big smile on his face. “It is wonderful!” Grantaire could only blush slightly and grin in return, proud that his present had made his friend happy.

“I couldn't read your book yet, but I'll get to it as soon as I can,” he promised in return.

“It's okay. I just hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did when I first read it.”

School life hit them with its full force soon enough and Grantaire was glad to find himself back in the usual cycle of classes and assignments and hanging around with his friends. 

Spring brought quidditch matches back and a disappointment for the Ravenclaws, who lost their game against Hufflepuff. But their captain, a strong-minded sixth-year, who was known for her tactical skills, didn't want to hear anything of it. “Yes, we lost,” she said, “what of it? It's not like we never lost before. We'll just have to do better next time.” And somehow that was enough.

Between drawing and reading and quidditch spring turned slowly into summer and once again they spent endless hours learning together. Shortly before their exams began Jehan asked Grantaire if he wanted to visit him during the summer.

“My parents said we're not going on holidays this year, and that I should invite someone over if I wanted, because they didn't want me to get bored at home,” he explained.

“I'll have to ask my father if it is okay, but if he says yes, I definitely want to come,” he told Jehan with a wide smile.

His friend laughed and hugged him happily. “Oh, I hope he says yes, it will be great!”

Grantaire wrote to his father as soon as he could to ask about Jehan's invitation and was met with a disinterested, but nice enough reply that he was free to visit his friend as long as he liked but that he and his mother would be glad to see him at least for a short while over the holidays. Grantaire didn't know what hurt more: That his father didn't care enough for him to want to see him, or that his mother obviously loved him enough to want it.

Nevertheless they all endured their exams and a few short days of being able to enjoy Hogwarts without having to do anything. There was the buzzing of students packing their things and looking for items they couldn't find and then they all sat on the train back to London, looking forward to the seemingly endless joy of summer.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [Tumblr](http://abschaumno1.tumblr.com), I won't bite unles you want me to.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [A Nanny for R](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1135166) by [AbschaumNo1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1)




End file.
